Fluttery and Colorful
Tom Hobson is a preschool teacher in Seattle, Washington. He also wrote the book "A Parent's Guide To Seattle". He is the only employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative Preschools. The cooperative preschool allows him to work very closely with families in a true community setting.
"If you have alot of anything, you can use it in the classroom". Mr. Hobson was describing how her always had balloon scraps left over from the balloon cage that his students made in class. They craft these leftover materials into a collage by gluing them onto cardboard. Over the years, he has revised they ways in which they attach them and what they attach them to. His latest develop was tacking the balloon pieces to donated squares of corkboard. By using the corkboard and tacks instead of glue, he would be able to keep the balloons for his project in the making that he calls the balloon pillow.
What I Had To Say...
I commented on how wonderful it was to see someone with such heavy influence on children teaching that anything can be used to make everything. For instance, kids don't need shiny new materials to create something amazing. They can use the same things year after year and always change it into something new. With our world turning into a "green" earth, it is important to start teaching children early to save and not be so wasteful.
Around We Go Again
In this post, Mr. Tom talks about the "cycle of life" he goes through with his teaching. He states children ask him the same questions year after year. Unlike parenting, which is linear, teaching the same age group is a cycle. He teaches through the same ages and same stages during the 3 years each group is with him. He begins with tottering 2-year-olds who grow out of the diapers and baby songs into toddler life. He states, "finally, where they enter toddling, they leap into the linear world out there, leaving me behind with a couple dozen new 2-year-olds tottering and scattering...and around we go again.
What I had to say...
I told him it must be fun to know exactly what you are getting into year after year. Although he may have some similarities with the stages his children go through, kids at that age can be so unpredictable. I think that is totally FUN. Although you know how to handle several situations, you never know what your students personalities are going to be.
John Mikulski: Classroom in the Cloud
John Mikulski teaches 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts in a semi-rural district outside of Niagara Falls, New York. In Mr. M's most recent post, he talks about one of the most important things when it comes to having your own classroom: a library. He answers a series of questions pertaining to how, when, where and what his library is all about. I was so excited to read his post because I always looked for a teachers bookshelf on the first day of class. I was an avid reader all through grade school and I still enjoy a good book every now and then (when I have time).
His post was answering a survey that Sarah Chattin posted on English Companions website.
His library contains about 150 books varying from historical fiction to non-fiction in different subjects like history, science, language arts, etc. He always tries to make a point to add books throughout the year so his collection will stay pretty up to date and continue to grow. His library is made enitrely of books because he has not yet acquired the funding to obtain magazine subscriptions. He is currently working on trying to recieve a grant from Barnes and Nobles to do so.
Do you have suggestions for how a new teacher can build a library?Keep an eye out for public library book sales. While these books usually aren't on the bestseller's list, they'll give you a foundation of materials from which to build on. For teachers looking for funding to purchase books, I would suggest Donors Choose. Many teacher have great success is securing funds for books through this site.
The excerpt above was taken directly from the survey. Add the link to your PLN for use in the future. I highly recommend you do this immediately before you forget! Mr. M does not use a check out system but, instead requires that his students verbally request a book. More of his books get ruined from overuse and wear-and-tear than they do from vandalism or theft, so he doesn't bother with a formal means of signing them out. As far as he is concerned, students reading his books too often is a good problem to have!
He continues to go into detail about what types of books he uses and what he hopes to accomplish by providing them access to his library. I really enjoyed reading his post and I have already added his blog to my PLN because I hope to learn more from him in the future.
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